researches at the university of bonn in germany have discovered that the little blue pill viagra may actually help to burn fat. i thought about this and i thought no wonder larry king is so thin. [ laughter ] >> that is awesome. >> joy: would you take that pill if it made you be thin. >> remember that stuff that made your intestines bleed or something? >> joy: so what? a little side effect. well will do anything to lose weight. >> i think it has something to do with converting whatever fat cells into brown fat cells. >> i think it's the amount of sex you have. >> yeah, you had to work it off. >> joy: that's wishful thinking on your part. >> i'm a man. what do you expect?

>> i'm going to the actual science. and you guys, i don't know what you are thinking. >> joy: we're having fun today. it could go on forever in this show. thanks to all of my guests tonight. see you tomorrow. >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in "the war room," a day of firsts and lasts for women in america. [♪ theme music ♪] >> jennifer: today was a big day for women in combat. first, female members of the military finally broke the glass ceiling which keeps them from serving on the front lines alongside their male colleagues. the 1994 ban on women in combat

gone. with defense secretary leon panetta announcing he is going to eliminate the ban. and one of the most powerful women in the world, secretary of state hillary clinton took fire as she answered questions about the attacks in benghazi that killed four americans, including ambassador chris stevens, and she not only exhibited strength she also displayed raw emotion. >> for me this is not just a matter of policy. it's personal. i stood next to president obama as the marines care rid those flag-draped caskets off of the plane at andrews. i put my arms around the mothers and fathers, the sister and

brothers the sons and daughters, and the wives left alone to raise their children. >> jennifer: it is truly touching. though many republicans seemed more concerned with making a name for themselves on national television than with investigating how hopes to americans were killed. some of the biggest fireworks came from what the state department told the public following the incident. they said it was perpetrated bay group of protesters. and here is ron johnson questioning secretary clinton. >> we were lead that there were supposedly protests and something spraining out of that. and that was not the fact and the american people could have known that within days. >> we had four dead americans. was it because of a protest or

because guys were out for a walk deciding to kill some americans. what difference does it make? it is our job to figure out what hand and prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> jennifer: tell them hilary. i love that kind of passion. but later this afternoon that same senator ron johnson tried to slam hillary clinton for displaying emotion, saying she did it to avoidancing questions. this is what he told buzzfeed . . . right. because it's all about you, senator johnson, not the four americans who died. of course. and then it was sensor rand

paul's turn. he laid into secretary clinton about her record saying if he were president that he would have fired her, and then he threw in a completely unrelated question. take a listen. >> there is a certain amount of cullablety since the tragedy of 9/11, and i'm glad you are accepting this. is the u.s. involved with any procuring of weapons to buying selling, transferring weapons to turkey out of libya? >> to turkey? i will have to take that question for the record. nobody has ever raised that with me. >> jennifer: the reason why that had the secretary of state confused is because that comes -- that theory about turkey comes from a right-wing conspiracy theory that ambassador chris stevens was somehow involved in a

gun-running scream through syria to turkey. at least that's what has been out there on the blogs. and by the way the inflammatory rhetoric all day long kept coming. here is jeff duncan. >> there was a request made for more security and it was denied on june 7th, and so madam secretary, you let the console at it become a death trap and that is national security malpractice. >> jennifer: accuses the secretary of state of a version of manslaughter. no one ever accused republican congressmen of being subtle of course. jeaning me now is lawrence korb he was the secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985. lawrence welcome back inside

"the war room." >> nice to be back. >> jennifer: just to get your take how do you think secretary clinton handled the questions today? >> i think she did marvellously because when people tried to take cheap shots she wouldn't let them get away with it. and basically i think she was able to point out to the report which she commissioned which was lead by probably the most distinguished foreign service officer today, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. she said look i set this up they came up with the facts and if you read the report a lot of these things you are saying just don't make any sense. and i thought the best line which i was hoping you may play was when senator durbin from illinois said you mislead it quote, unquote for a couple of weeks, she said where were those

weapons of mass destruction when we invaded iraq? talk about getting it wrong. >> jennifer: yes. i think people who aren't following this so closely do want to know should hillary clinton have done something differently before or after the attack? >> no, i -- i don't think so because again what you say -- well theoretically you are the secretary of defense or you are responsible for everything. 20 30 people everybody want more security, and people have to make you know, those -- you know, those decisions. so basically i think when she -- when -- when it happened and she found out about it then she acted appropriately, but you don't fire the secretary of defense gates because some air

force guy took off with a nuclear weapon without telling anybody. she said look we made a mistake. this was terrible so i set up a group to find out why, and what we can do again, and don't forget four people at the level where they could have taken action have been relieved of their jobs. >> jennifer: but one of the -- i mean the issue, i think, really resolves around this question of why she didn't know about these cables that were sent by ambassador stevens and others requesting security help and the fact that a couple of them were denied. and what she had said was there was a group inside the department of state that handled that stuff. it didn't get to her level. now the arb, the administrative review board has made recommendations, process changes that they are suggesting at the

department of state to streamline that communication. is that really the answer to all of this kerfuffle today is how they fix the communication with the secretary of state when there are requests or crises? >> yes. i can tell you from my own experience you get all of these things you have to deal with and you have to make a judgment. what do i need to tell the secretary here? and sometimes you make a mistake, and then they will say why didn't you tell me about this. and then on the other hand they will say why did i higher you -- >> jennifer: i know exactly what you are saying. and 1.2 million cables that come in or something like that that she was testifying about.

you mentioned the funding cuts at the hands of the republicans have hurt the state department. is this going to be something that is lain at least indirectly at the feet of congress are the funding cuts threatening our security? >> well they are, and she made a very good point, because when -- even if these people who got these cables wanted to do something, they were not able to transfer money from one account to another because the house said no. and she kept pointing that out. you people want us to do these things. we get a cable, and we go and ask to transfer money, and you say no. so how are we going do it? >> jennifer: yeah it is so interesting to hear congress question her about that. but what about the theory that rand paul senator paul raised that ambassador stephens was

there because weapons were going to turkey via syria. was that actually happening? >> we do know that a lot of the weapons that were there have made their way all across the middle east. so that could happen we just -- we just don't know. but i think it's interesting -- you know senator paul is an isolationist. if it was up to him we wouldn't have anybody in that part of the world. >> jennifer: well i really appreciate your perspective and the fact that you are coming from my fair state and the industry of detroit. lawrence korb, senior fellow at the senator for progress thank you so much for joining me. and up next a green light that has been a long time in coming. leon panetta gives the go-ahead for women to serve in combat.

and later whether it's to mourn or celebrate, washington's national cathedral has played many roles in the history of the capitol and now it's making some

♪ >> jennifer: there are over 20,000 women serving in iraq and afghanistan, and in the last decade over 800 of them have been wounded, and 130 have died. so they are sacrificing just like their male counterparts but because they can't serve on the front lines, it's harder for them to get promotions and pay raises inside the military. but now that is all going to change. leon panetta is overturning a ban on women in combat roles. the military services have until january 2016 to seek special

exemptions if they believe that position should still be closed to women. but for more on this whole subject i'm joined by a new guest, she is coming to us from washington, d.c. welcome inside our "war room." >> thank you very much for having me. >> jennifer: so you obviously have been in the thick of this argument. how hard it is for women to rise in the military without this front line combat experience? >> it's very difficult for women to rise to the top ranks of the military with the combat excuse policy. there are only two women generals at the rank of four-star generals in the entire history of the u.s. military. in the civilian world we talk about the brass ceiling. in the military we are always

talking about the brass ceiling because it is so difficult to break through. in iraq and afghanistan women have been assigned and attached to units and even commanders had no idea that women would be able to fulfill, and women served beyond anyone's expectation, really accomplished amazing feets, silver stars, bronze stars with combat devices. so they proved everybody wrong. >> jennifer: well there still are a few. let's take a listen quickly to representative tom cotton. he is a newly elected member of congress and a military veteran. here is what he says. >> to have women serving in infantry though could impair the mission essential task of those units, and that has been proven in study after study just from a

matter of -- it's nature. upper body strength and physical movements and speed endurance and so forth. >> jennifer: is it just about strength or it is something els. >> the congressman's comments were really out of line and not based on facts. there are women who could do these tasks, because they are being recruited right now is another question and we don't have our best and brightest necessarily joining the military, because today men are randomly assigned to the combat arms units and women aren't even given the opportunity to compete for the assignments. if you look at professional athletes, cross-fit competitions, you know there are women capable of doing these

jobs. not all women want to be infantry men or special operatives but some do and they should be given the opportunity. >> jennifer: and to your point, last year, i think the marines opened their infant try officer trains to women, but probably because of this very ban only two volunteered and both unfortunately failed to finish. no volunteered for the next course and is that because women are not participating because they feel like they are not even going to go into the front lines. >> that is an interesting case study. there are a small pool of women in the marine corps to begin with. it's a very difficult place to thrive, because you are constantly demeaned. if the marine corps were to open

up assignments and recruit women which they do not do a good job of doing, we would see whim who might be completing in the olympics joining the marine corps and the army and they are the ones who are qualified for these jobs. it's not the average woman or certainly not the avenue man either. >> jennifer: right. parallel subject is that women have been subject to sexual assault in the military which is another deterrent, i think for women signing up. you were in the hearings today about military rape. tell us what happened? >> it was a fascinating hearing. i think it was long due. we heard testimony from general welsh, and general rice who is in charge of the investigation of though sex assault scandal.

lackland is a training environment, you cannot have a consensual sexual relationship. power is absolute. over 50 students involved in cases with their instructors ranging from rape to -- to sexual assault to sexual misconduct over 20 instructors implicated in these crimes and really an awful case. the thing that we have to remember is that lackland is not a unique place in that these cases are happening every single day in every branch of the military. we know that because we get calls every day from service women and service men who are being assaulted and harasses and do not feel safe in their units. >> jennifer: and part of the way you can start to get at some of it is by having equality inside

of military ranks, and that means promotions and having women in leadership roles, so today's news is really great, i think for women and our country. thank you so much for joining us inside of "the war room." coming up a few weeks from now, hillary clinton will go from being secretary of state to a new role of full-time front runner for president of the united states if she wants it. ththththththththththththththththththththththththththththththth destined to take them over. ♪ ♪ the sirius xm satellite radio in the 2013 ram 1500. engineered to move heaven and earth. guts. glory. ram. the new ram 1500. motor trend's 2013 truck of the year.

♪ >> jennifer: today secretary clinton not only fielded questions about her record at state department, she answered questions about her future. >> i want to thank you for your advocacy in behalf of women around the globe. you will be sorely missed but i for one hope not for too long.

>> jennifer: well, she got a few of those. she played a little bit coy, but she is the heavy favorite for the 2016 presidential nomination. ppp poll out this month finds that 57% of candidates would like secretary clinton to be their candidate. 16% want the great joes biden, and andrew cuomo and elizabeth warren. if hillary clinton did win the nomination her biggest challenge would be chris christie. she still leads him but surprisingly only by 4 points so maybe newt gingrich of all people said it best. >> if their competitor in 16 is going to be hillary clinton, supported by bill clinton and presumably still popular barack

obama truly winning that will be like winning the super bowl. >> jennifer: >> jennifer: joining me now is kiki mcclean, senior advisor to secretary clinton's 2008 campaign and press secretary for vice president al gore's 2000 campaign. and a whole bunch of other stuff. kiki comes to us from washington. thanks kiki for joining me inside "the war room" again. >> always glad to be here governor. >> jennifer: i love to talk about our favorite subject which is president clinton two. today there were a number of senators and congressmen who alluded to her presidential run potentially. if she does decide to run for president, today's stuff about benghazi, do you think that would have any impact at all? does it slow her down? >> well i think what she did today was prove to be the kind of leader we have always known her to be.

when something goes on she takes responsibility. when there is a problem, she takes the lead in solving it. and that's what she has done in this, and we also saw a human being who cared about the lives of other human beings and i think that makes a great leader. and i think it's the kind of leadership that gives people confidence whatever role she chooses to play in the future. >> jennifer: yeah instead of taking her down a notch, if anything it i think elevated her to show that many of those questioning her were not worthy to sit on the same stage. but i was curious about your take on the fact that every media outlet covered this all day long. >> yeah. >> jennifer: what do you think that says about how the media views her into the future? i have never seen that have

you? other than maybe like when somebody is getting confirmed, like -- you know with the hill hearings or something like that. >> right. well first of all you and i both know some of it has to do with some slow news. other things weren't happening in the world. the second thing i look at is say good this is an important issue. and i think thirdly, clearly her strength as a leader brings at attention to issues so in this case it was answering questions about some confusion. there had been -- and she had answers, and the great thing about this is she is the person that has driven the investigation. so she does live a unique life in the at attention she garners, but this was also an issue that was important to be covered and her popularity and the light she can shine on things can be used for good. >> jennifer: yeah absolutely. you mentioned the vulnerable

moment she had showing some emotion reflecting on ambassador stevens and those who were killed coming back. i'm wondering how you think about this -- obviously women are always counseled never cry in public if you are a politician. do you think that is becoming a bit yesterday? >> sure it is. i think what we want are strength in leaders. did anybody counsel president obama not to tear up. >> jennifer: or john boehner for pete's sake. >> right. and it is heard breaking and our leaders are human beings and i think it's awesome that we recognize them as human beings and it's those human reactions that make me feel good about the fact that the decisions they make will be guided by both the brain, and the heart, the right way to do it. >> jennifer: yeah, you are exactly right about that. you put it so well. >> i think for her -- i

think -- >> jennifer: go ahead. >> i was just going to say -- i -- i don't think anybody thinks hillary clinton is weak. so i think when you have a human moment like that it doesn't take away from her standing in our world at all. >> jennifer: i agree. the other person who is sort of a heart-centered person in the administration is joe biden. >> yeah. >> jennifer: and they are both -- joe and hilary very close and of course potentially competitors in a 2016 run. do you think that would actually happen? would one of them step back for the other? because they are very dear friends? >> here is the one thing i can tell you about both of them that i believe. if either/or both of them choose to run for president, it will because they both believe they have something to offer. not because either of them believe they have something to prove. and that isn't always true with candidates. and i think if that is the case we have a field of terrific

candidates. and that's to the benefit of the american people and the democratic party. >> jennifer: absolutely. and do you think she can beat chris christie. >> i think hillary clinton can do just about anything she sets her mind to. >> jennifer: all right. thank you, kiki. up next political figures from massachusetts have cornered the market on intrigue and speculation over the last year elizabeth warren john kerry, deval patrick, scott brown, and mitt romney. after the break we're going to add a new and interesting name to the

desmond tutu said a quote that is one of my favorite quotes. "we are tied together in a web of humanity. i am a person only through you. i can only be a person only

through you." that really resonates me and drives my work. the world is becoming an incredibly connected place. mobile phones are really driving that connection. at kiva, we run an internet marketplace. people can lend to other people for the purpose of starting a small business, going to school or a variety of other good causes. you can go to kiva.org and you can see pictures and profiles of people from over sixty countries all across the world. you can lend them as little as $25. if they are successful, they will pay you back. dear rixi, you're a honduran immagrant. you're coming to the us, you have an idea to start, you know, a women's cosmetics store or a clothing store. you're going to need a lot of things, ya know, to pay the rent, permits inventory, advertising, marketing so that adds up quite a bit. you're going to need tens of thousands of dollars to start a small busines.

there is ten million-plus people completely left out of the formal finical system. banks don't lend to people like that at all. there is a lot of opportunity to decrease unemployment, provide employment, provide economic opportunity and raise our standard of living by investing in small business. our hearts are an incredibly powerful thing. good technology can help amplify this power and create an incredibly powerful force that can spread to every country in the world. ♪ >> jennifer: you're back inside "the war room." we have been talk about hillary clinton testimony. but it's not the first time she

has been in that position. in 1993 she addressed congress with her plans to overhaul health care and that didn't go so well and it would be another 16 years before any major health care reform. but as we well know that was not the end of hillary clinton. our next guest also knows what it is like to face off against republicans opposed to reforming health care, and to live and fight again. the gop blocked dr. donald berwick appointment. he has got some good revenge though, because he is now considering a run for the massachusetts state house as governor. so while republicans may have knocked him down they sure did not knock him out, and coming to us tonight from newton massachusetts, is dr. donald

berwick. >> thanks for having me. >> jennifer: you bet. as with hillary clinton, i'm curious about whether your experience with congress might have inspired you a bit to consider at least running for office yourself? >> well, it was interesting dealing with congress, but what inspired me was the chance to serve in government. i -- for 17 months i was administrator of cms, i got to help advance the most important steps in american public policy and health care in my lifetime. it was just wonderful. i got to work with great staff, and it gave me a taste for what good government really can do and really whetted my appetite for it. >> jennifer: so are you going to run? >> i haven't decided yet. i'm very very serious about this. i spent time thinking about it my family and many colleagues and state holders, i am going to continue to listen for a while and then make up my mind.

it's a great time for states now. we all know the problems in washington, and states can take the lead. i think massachusetts is a terrific place to show everybody what can be done by working together. >> jennifer: you are totally right that the actions can be now in the states especially with gridlock in congress. the states can be the laboratories of democracy that they should be and help to show solutions that can be spread across the country. as part of your listening tour if you will have you spoken with senator warren? >> yes, i have. she has just been wonderful. i have enjoyed watching her campaign, and now her new services as senator she has been extremely helpful to me. and i'm very grateful for it. >> jennifer: the experiences you have had obviously with health care is very relevant to a

governor. massachusetts is on the front of the cutting edge of obamacare having been the model for it. do you think that that experience would make you a good governor? >> yes massachusetts is really in the lead. and following through on that making a sustainable terrific health care system that we can afford is terrific. but i have hell with pediatricians, and safety and running cms, my goodness every day i was dealing with other agencies. with tax policy with the irs, business and labor, so it really -- health care is a front door to a really brood array of very important social issues all of which interest me. >> jennifer: obviously you have a great reputation in the health care community. people have enormous respect for

you, but your health care experience is only sort of one aspect of being a governor of a state. give me one other thing that you are passionate about that you would want people to know about you as you consider this run for governor of massachusetts. >> i'm passionate about a lot of things. i'll pick education and children. i think creating a proper future for our children which means a proper presence for families and i want to help build the future and improvement, doing it together, with a lot of options of what is achievable i think we can really break through to a completely new performance. and that's what i aim to achieve. >> jennifer: dr. donald berwick it's a pleasure to have you inside "the war room." we certainly will be following this challenge, and i wish you the best of luck. >> thanks governor same to

you. >> jennifer: up next while it's legal to have a same-sex marriage in washington, d.c. your options for getting married at a church are pretty limited, but unfortunately the city's grandest cathedral is

♪ >> jennifer: all right. let's head down to los angeles to get the pulse of the progressives with cenk uygur. cenk what have you got planned for tonight on "the young turks"? >> we have a great show tonight jennifer. we'll balk about benghazi. i'm a little surprised at how strong the republicans have come out against hillary clinton. i thought they were going to be a little bit respectful and they haven't been. we'll talk to a former cia operative about what went wrong in benghazi and what really

could be done. >> jennifer: do you think the republicans ended up shooting themselves in the foot by coming out in a way that might have appeared to be disrespectful? >> the injury i have out on that. and we're going to have to see public reaction to it. but they are always in fourth gear. they don't have another gear. >> jennifer: yeah. >> so this is how they operate, so i'm surprised that i'm surprised by it i guess. right? this is what they do. but it was really strong. now interesting note on the republicans. on the other hand they caved on the debt ceiling. so why did they cave on the debt ceiling. we have an expert on that. i think that's really interesting, and what do they plan to do on the budget fights instead. and then there is an unbelievable documentary on how wall street got away with clear criminal action. it's a devastating story. i can't wait to share it.

>> jennifer: all right. cenk uygur "young turks" at the top of the hour. thanks, cenk. >> thank you. >> jennifer: now we're going to turn to a story about equality. located in the nation's capitol, washington national cathedral is the sixth largest cathedral in the world, and the second largest in the united states. it was built in 1792. it is magnificent. it has hosted many important events. it is also a place where local d.c. resident goes to pray and baptize their children and get married. and now for the first time in the institution's more than 200-year history, gay couples can officially get married at the cathedral too. here to tell us about this exciting development is the dean of the national cathedral, the very reverend gary hall. he comes to us from washington. welcome inside "the war room." >> it's great to be with you. >> jennifer: it's great to have

you with us as well. this is such an interesting change. what prompted the church to allow same-sex marriages in such a traditional venunu >> wewe there are really two streams of activity that have lead up to it. one of them is we're an episcopal church even though we have a long tradition of interfaith. the episcopal church at the end of about a 20-year process approved the right for the blessing of same-sex covenants with the proviso that weddings could be allowed in jurisdictions where marriage is legal. so that's -- so we now have a ritual for same-sex blessings and weddings in the episcopal church. the other one is in the diocese of washington, which includes

the district of columbia and parts of maryland same-sex marriage is now legal in all parts of our diocese. so the bishop and i have worked together to sort of put this together, and we also -- it's now legal and official in the episcopal church that we feel as a national symbolic structure it's important for us to lead and perhaps invite other faith communities to do the same thing. >> jennifer: wow. there's another element too which is that social justice has been a cornerstone of the national cathedral and your clergy over the years has spoken out against war and racism. gay marriage could be considered a continuation of that tradition as well could it not? >> absolutely. marlin luther king even preached his final sermon in the pulpit of the cathedral.

and so there is a long tradition of social witness both in the church and in the national cathedral, and i would say frankly, you know, i have been involved in this issue for a good couple of decades as an advocate for same-sex marriage. so it's very important -- some people say this is a distraction, the church should get back to other issues but i think marriage equality is the major social justice issue of this moment and i think it's important for us to lead on it in -- in our church and in the cathedral. >> jennifer: i can tell you as a catholic, it is so encouraging to hear someone with a collar saying that. david bains said this of your decision to allow gay marriages . . .

what is your reaction to that? you hadn't heard that before? >> no but i'm -- i'm sort of proud. i don't know. my great predecessor, went to selma, alabama, and the same thing exactly was said of him, and in many ways the analogs between same-sex issues and race issues are just incredibly app. nobody was saying he was doing the wrong thing to march with dr. king. so i would say that it's divisive in some sense, but i think we're coming to a point in both -- certainly in the episcopal church, we have done our work on this and come to a clear consensus that this is the right thing to do and a clear

cultural consensus that this is the right thing to do. but i think 50 years down the line, people are going to say, what were they thinking? >> jennifer: i agree. >> of course this is the right thing to do. >> jennifer: i want to get your take on the firearms issue. i want people to take a look at this new gallup poll. and as a strong advocate for gun safety, do you think that congress particularly the republicans are going to look at the polls and actually pass something meaningful? >> i hope so. you know i mean this was actually the first thing i spoke out on. i came here from michigan your former state, and i have only been here two months and this was the first thing i spoke out on. and there was a huge response across all party lines, and the response across the faith community has been across the

party lines. there is a huge number of republicans and democrats that support these things. now as it's beginning to line up, it seems to be that only the democrats are really lining up in favor of the gun control, so i'm hoping question bring some republicans in because i know rank and file republicans believe as strongly about this as democrats do. >> jennifer:? fact there has been outreach by the president to the faith community. will the faith community be part of this organizing for action to help persuade the other members of congress? >> absolutely. there are people across the faith community across every aspect of the faith community that are really behind the president and the vice president on this issue. >> jennifer: all right. reverend hall thank you so much for coming inside "the war room." sorry it's called the war room when and good luck. ♪

>> on this vote the yays are 285 and the nays are 144. >> jennifer: and with that today the house actually passed a bill pushing back the country's debt limit at least the deadline until may 18th. now repepublicans did not include in that vote language that traded spending cuts for borrowing increases, and that might have won over 86 democrats, but it didn't win over their leader. >> it's a curiosity that we have on the floor today. let's distract from the matter at hand. i'm hearing people say we should go down this path of least resistance it's an easy way out, three months but that is a

path, a path to even more problems and as mr. crowley has said, a path to another cliff. >> jennifer: by the way, nancy pelosi had a very busy day. but harry reid released this statement . . . the house version of the bill might not be so appealing to senators because it includes a measure suspending lawmakers pay if they failed to pass a budget and the senate hasn't debated a budget since 2009. speaking of things that senators might not like new jersey's 89-year-old senator frank

lautenberg has not taken kindly to major cory booker. he has expressed interest in the senator seat which prompted lautenberg to say quote . . . well first of all lautenberg might have been old enough to given cory booker's parents a spanking, but you can see why the elder stateman might feel threatened because booker has a 51-30 lead over lautenberg. it looks like the senator might actually be the one in line for the spanking. and finally, our last story, current tv's bill press tried to bring some closure to the